The MCG was flagged as a potential location for a match in Australia, but sources familiar with the process, who were not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed that Visit Victoria, along with entertainment giant TEG, would be involved in any discussions to bring the NFL to Australia.

A match played in Australia on a Friday afternoon could be broadcast into America on Thursday night, or Friday night if it was played on Saturday afternoon.

Visit Victoria, which has an office in Los Angeles, would not outline the progress being made in such discussions but responded to inquiries about its interest in bringing the NFL to Victoria.

“As Australia’s major events capital, we’re always looking at new opportunities and events for our calendar,” a Victorian government spokesperson said. The MCG is also hopeful of an NFL match being played at the venue but is not directly involved in the discussions with the NFL.

Sydney hosted a pre-season match between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers in 1999 and would also be a possible location for the match.

Loading

The NFL is America’s most dominant and popular sport and is booming in Australia with Super Bowl Monday now a key part of the country’s sporting calendar. There are also multiple Australians playing in the NFL, mainly as punters, with many former AFL players including Darren Bennett, Ben Graham and Saverio Rocca forging strong careers in the NFL.

The league is also opening an NFL Academy in September that will be based at A.B. Paterson College in south-east Queensland to create pathways for international talent. Most Australians have graduated to the NFL through former AFL player Nathan Chapman’s Prokick Australia.

The MCG would not be available until late in October each year, when the NFL season is under way, which would create challenges for teams travelling.

“When you start to talk about Asia, Pacific and Australia, you talk about distance and logistics and the football component of that,” O’Reilly said.

“So those factors are real. But our role is to really look at the globe, look at where the fan base is strong and do the diligence, make the evaluations.”

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.